Rubio's Response Puts Emphasis on Helping the Middle Class

By

Neil King Jr.

Feb. 13, 2013 12:11 a.m. ET

WASHINGTON—Sen. Marco Rubio put forward a simple recipe for the country in his response to the president's State of the Union address: Stir economic growth, and you will fix the middle class. And if you fix the middle class, you will assure the country's strength.

Picked by his party to deliver the official response to Mr. Obama's address to Congress, Mr. Rubio gave his speech in an earnest, sometimes jittery fashion in front of a...